Abstract
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and positive childhood experiences (PCEs) may impact brain development in children and adolescents into adulthood. While prior research demonstrated racial-ethnic disparities in ACEs, less is known about racial and ethnic differences in PCEs, particularly among adults. To better understand racial and ethnic differences in positive childhood experiences, this study (1) examined the prevalence of PCEs in an adult population in South Carolina (SC), a representative southern US state and (2) examined whether PCE exposure differed across racial and ethnic groups. Data were drawn from the 2019 SC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey (BRFSS). Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were used to calculate frequencies, proportions and unadjusted associations for each variable. Multivariable regression models were used to examine the association between race/ethnicity and PCEs. Our analyses revealed that people of color were less likely to be supported by friends, have an adult who took interest in them, and have a family who stood by them during difficult times. Education and poverty were significantly associated with feeling safe and protected, supported by friends, and having a family that stood by them during difficult times.
Conclusions: Findings from this study may be used to promote health equity in early childhood through programs, policies, and practices that seek to address historic, systemic, and intergenerational trauma.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bailey, Z. D., Krieger, N., Agénor, M., Graves, J., Linos, N., & Bassett, M. T. (2017). Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: Evidence and interventions. The Lancet, 389(10077), 1453–1463. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30569-X.
Biglan, A., Van Ryzin, M. J., & Hawkins, J. D. (2017). Evolving a more nurturing society to prevent adverse childhood experiences. Academic Pediatrics, 17(7), S150–S157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2017.04.002.
Braveman, P., & Barclay, C. (2009). Health disparities beginning in childhood: a life-course perspective. Pediatrics, 124(Supplement 3), S163–S175. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2009-1100D.
Bruner, C. (2017). ACE, place, race, and poverty: Building hope for children. Academic Pediatrics, 17(7), S123–S129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2017.05.009.
Burstein, D., Yang, C., Johnson, K., Linkenbach, J., & Sege, R. (2021). Transforming practice with HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences). Maternal and Child Health Journal, 25(7), 1019–1024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03173-9.
CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). (2014). Essentials for childhood: steps to create safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/essentials-for-childhood-framework508.pdf
Cho, H. (2012). Racial differences in the prevalence of intimate partner violence against women and associated factors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27(2), 344–363. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260511416469.
Crouch, E., Probst, J. C., Radcliff, E., Bennett, K. J., & McKinney, S. H. (2019). Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among US children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 92, 209–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.04.010.
Crouch, E., Radcliff, E., Merrell, M. A., Brown, M. J., Ingram, L. A., & Probst, J. (2021a). Racial/ethnic differences in positive childhood experiences across a national sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 115, 105012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105012.
Crouch, E., Radcliff, E., Merrell, M. A., & Bennett, K. J. (2021). Rural-urban differences in positive childhood experiences across a national sample. The Journal of Rural Health, 37(3), 495–503. https://doi.org/10.1111/jrh.12493.
Crouch, E., Radcliff, E., Merrell, M. A., Hung, P., & Bennett, K. J. (2021). Positive childhood experiences promote school success. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 25(10), 1646–1654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03206-3.
Drake, B., & Rank, M. R. (2009). The racial divide among American children in poverty: Reassessing the importance of neighborhood. Children and Youth Services Review, 31(12), 1264–1271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2009.05.012.
Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(98)00017-8.
Gee, G. C., & Ford, C. L. (2011). Structural racism and health inequities: Old issues, new directions. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 8(1), 115–132. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742058X11000130.
Gjelsvik, A., Dumont, D. M., Nunn, A., & Rosen, D. L. (2014). Adverse childhood events: Incarceration of household members and health-related quality of life in adulthood. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 25(3), 1169. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2014.0112.
Kersten, E. E., Adler, N. E., Gottlieb, L., Jutte, D. P., Robinson, S., Roundfield, K., & LeWinn, K. Z. (2018). Neighborhood child opportunity and individual-level pediatric acute care use and diagnoses. Pediatrics, 141(5), e20172309. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-2309.
Maguire-Jack, K., Lanier, P., & Lombardi, B. (2020). Investigating racial differences in clusters of adverse childhood experiences. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 90(1), 106. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000405.
Masten, A. S., & Barnes, A. J. (2018). Resilience in children: Developmental perspectives. Children, 5(7), 98. https://doi.org/10.3390/children5070098.
Mersky, J. P., Topitzes, J., & Britz, L. (2019). Promoting evidence-based, trauma-informed social work practice. Journal of Social Work Education, 55(4), 645–657. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2019.1627261.
Pettit, B., & Western, B. (2004). Mass imprisonment and the life course: Race and class inequality in US incarceration. American Sociological Review, 69(2), 151–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240406900201.
Poole, J. C., Dobson, K. S., & Pusch, D. (2017). Childhood adversity and adult depression: the protective role of psychological resilience. Child Abuse & Neglect, 64, 89–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.12.012.
Price-Robertson, R., Smart, D., & Bromfield, L. (2010). Family is for life connections between childhood family experiences and wellbeing in early adulthood. Family Matters, Issue, 85, 7–17.
Rees, C. (2007). Childhood attachment. British Journal of General Practice, 57(544), 920–922.
Roxburgh, S., & MacArthur, K. R. (2014). Childhood adversity and adult depression among the incarcerated: Differential exposure and vulnerability by race/ethnicity and gender. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(8), 1409–1420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.02.007.
Sacks, V., & Murphey, D. (2018). The prevalence of adverse childhood experiences, nationally, by state, and by race or ethnicity. Child Trends. https://www.childtrends.org/publications/prevalence-adverse-childhood-experiences-nationally-state-race-ethnicity
Sege, R. D., & Browne, C. H. (2017). Responding to ACEs with HOPE: Health outcomes from positive experiences. Academic Pediatrics, 17(7), S79–S85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2017.03.007.
SC DHEC (South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control). (2021). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveys. https://scdhec.gov/behavioral-risk-factor-surveys
Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., Siegel, B. S., Dobbins, M. I., Earls, M. F., McGuinn, L., Wood, D. L., the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, & the Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232–46. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-2663
Shonkoff, J. P., Slopen, N., & Williams, D. R. (2021). Early childhood adversity, toxic stress, and the impacts of racism on the foundations of health. Annual Review of Public Health, 42, 115–134. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-090419-101940.
Skodol, A. E., Bender, D. S., Pagano, M. E., Shea, M. T., Yen, S., Sanislow, C. A., & Gunderson, J. G. (2007). Positive childhood experiences: Resilience and recovery from personality disorder in early adulthood. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 68(7), 1102–1108. https://doi.org/10.4088/jcp.v68n0719.
Srivastav, A., Strompolis, M., Moseley, A., & Daniels, K. (2020). The Empower Action Model: A framework for preventing adverse childhood experiences by promoting health, equity, and well-being across the life span. Health Promotion Practice, 21(4), 525–534. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839919889355.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2019). 2011–2015 ACS 5-Year Estimates. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/technical-documentation/table-and-geography-changes/2015/5-year.html
Williams, D. R., & Cooper, L. A. (2019). Reducing racial inequities in health: Using what we already know to take action. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(4), 606. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16040606.
Funding
No funding was received for conducting this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors have contributed substantially to the paper and have approved the version being submitted.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics Approval
The Institutional Review Board at the University of South Carolina approved this research.
Conflict of Interest
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Crouch, E., Srivastav, A. & McRell, A.S. Examining Racial/Ethnic Differences in Positive Childhood Experiences Among Respondents in a Southern State. Journ Child Adol Trauma 15, 1191–1198 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-022-00453-6
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-022-00453-6